Unity-2D
I really recommend setting the Launcher to be always shown How do I configure Unity 2D? Soon you'll stop missing those millimeters and start appreciate better productivity. A delay to reveal the launcher is understandable but to have actual animations of the Launcher showing up and hiding back again is a misunderstanding productivity wise. I'd say that between the default configuration with animations and the always visible Launcher the latter is more optimal.

As an alternative to Petko's suggestion, I recommend you enable the SCALE Compiz plugin triggered with the top-left edge of the window. You can choose to scale all windows from the active desktop, or all windows [from any desktop]. I prefer to scale all windows. This is better for users who do not use multiple desktops or use them infrequently. It allows you the additional advantage of selecting which app you want to work with at the same time as moving directly to the relevant workspace if it's on a different one.

This is similar to the behavior of the Gnome Shell. I have been using Gnome Shell for about half a year prior to just now switching to Unity. It took me a bit to get used to Gnome Shell's task switching paradigm but once I did I loved it and would have gone back if I weren't able to achieve the functionality that I state in the paragraph above.

This is how it works. There is experimental tab in Unity Compiz plugin.
Check with the values in the screenshot. And change the launcher reveal pressure. Optimal value for this is 7. A value of 1 will make the launcher popup faster but it may interrupt our actions.